Thursday, 9 June 2011

The Mother Lode

June 9, 2011

I'm always on the lookout for anything historical that has to do with the property. I've spent hours at the St. John's City Archives sifting through the numerous pictures and maps (which, by the way, is a pretty great way to spend a rainy afternoon if you're into that kind of thing) and I've spent lots of time wandering through the pictures and artifacts that we have here on site. So imagine my surprise the other day when Mr. Mahoney hands me a file folder and says, "Take a look at this. Might be something interesting in here."

Interesting! Interesting? It's the Mother Lode! The file was included in the documents from his original purchase. There's documents from the original renovation in the 1970's. There's negatives and slides......lots and lots of them. All sorts of documents containing the building history and the history of the original renovation too. Quotes from the craftsmen who were here on site turning this relatively derelict building into what we know today. I'll save these photos for another day....first I want to tell you about something else that I found.

Everyday, I walk down the first floor hallway and I look up at "her". The Lady from the Ship. I don't know who she is. I don't know where she came from. Or at least, I didn't. Now, I have papers saying that she's from a ship called "The Thetis". How she got here, proudly keeping watch over us is still a mystery but at least I have a starting point. As always, I reached for my old friend, Mr. Google and here's what I found.

So, what do you think? Is it her? I know, I know. It's kind of hard to tell but I want to believe it's her because then, I can let my imagination run wild about where's she's been.